Orthodox Rultzveni Church
The Orthodox Rultzveni Church was the major religion before the Rultzveni Revolution. It featured a large pantheon of gods, some of them existing only locally, with only 5 major gods being recognized across the entire nation. The church fizzled out and faded after the revolution, but the gods remain of cultural significance. Many households retain their old idols as a matter of filial pride, but they are nearly never worshipped or prayed to. The Major Pantheon The five gods recognized by the church across the nation were as follows. *Rultziay, Father Mountain, who ruled over the domain of slumber. *Veniay, brother to Rultziay, God of the Caverns, who ruled over the great realm of the deceased.. *Yilimenia, wife to Rulyziay, Mother River, who ruled over the domain of birth. *Lady Phosyi, Goddess of Hardship, whose very whim was enough to decide the fate of a village or family. *Yailtuo, God of Identities, who would safeguard the deceased who were good, and keep their identities alive. If one was forgotten entirely by his family, it was believed to be Yalituo's doing. Rultziay and Yilimenia were believed to be the father and mother of Father Rultz. Yilimenthenes's name was spawned from Yilimenia, both representing the Rultzveni people's feminine ideal: strong, brave, and unwilling to back down against an enemy, as well as nurturing and hard working for their families. Yailtuo and Lady Phosyi had several romantic trists, but were never formally bound; they had most of the children that spawned the ten gods of the upper pantheon. Veniay was the only god who went unmarried. Countless stories tell of Veniay falling deeply in love with a mortal's soul in the afterlife, only for Yailtuo to remove all memory of her from existance. He had only one child, the demigod Vayti of the Tyugalites. The Middle Pantheon The upper pantheon consisted of the ten children of the gods of the upper pantheon. Of them, only two mortals reached their ranks, the Demigod Vayti of the Tyugalites and Old Father Rultz. All were recognized by most of the nation, with only a few provinces disagreeing. *Vayti, God of the Hunt and of Warriors. Son of Veniay and a deceased mortal. He earned fame during the first war of the united tribes and the kingdom of Kezhang. After a particularly glorious battle, he announced his "divine ancestry." Few questioned him, considering how many men he had killed in the fight. *Father Rultz, God of Rultzven and of War, son of Father Mountain and Mother River. Many tales have been told of him, some of which can be read in the history of Rultzven. *Tyalga and Aglayt, God of Destruction and Goddess of Creation, son and daughter of Yailtuo and Lady Phosyi, also known as the twins. Surprisingly, they rarely came into conflict, and Aglayt would simply recreate the land after Tyalga wreaked havoc. *Hayant, God of the Night, a sullen, mopey god who would mourn for the dead. Son of Yailtuo and Lady Phosyi. *Brezhnai, God of the Forest, son of Yailtuo and Lady Phosyi *Phalt, God of Greed, a god who was quickly forgotten amongst the peasantry but loved by the nobility. Son of Yailtuo and Lady Phosyi *Ural, God of Merriment, brother of Phalt. *Rilt, the Guardian God, constantly standing vigilant against any foreign gods who might threaten Rultzven, not born but instead forged by Father Mountain on the highest peaks from strongest steel. *Elli, Goddess of Strength, who would be called upon alongside Lady Phosyi during times of horrific pain. Daughter of Yailtuo and Lady Phosyi. The Lower Pantheon These gods were too numerous to count, held only by single families and villages as patrons. A small shrine was usually the only memorial of the existance of these gods, other than memory. The Afterlife Rultzveni people believed in the afterlife. They beleived it was protected by Veniay and called it the Great Cavern. Once you were forgotten, though, your soul would dissiplate. To compensate, they took up the practice of burying their dead on peaks so that their bodies could be preserved and occasionally exhumed so that their memory could live on.